AROUND THE REGION: SOUTH EDITION Police seeking help to ID woman's body

June 4, 2004

SAN DIEGO – Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying a woman whose body was found Monday along 10th Avenue near Beech Street downtown.

The death is being investigated as a homicide.

The woman is described as white, in her late 20s, 6 feet tall, 154 pounds, with brown, shoulder-length, wavy hair that had been bleached blond. She had a stud in her tongue, a belly ring and three piercings for earrings in each ear, the Medical Examiner's Office said.

A man found the body face down on the curb when he took out his trash about 5:30 a.m. Anyone with information about the woman can call the Medical Examiner at (858) 694-2895.

Property owner, city reach deal

IMPERIAL BEACH – The city has agreed to settle a lawsuit with a property owner who was fined $120,900 three years ago for dozens of code violations at his shopping center on Palm Avenue.

According to the terms of the agreement, approved at a council meeting Wednesday, Sam Dimenstein will pay $20,500 in civil penalties and fees immediately, and the rest will be dismissed if he successfully completes a five-year probation.

Three years ago, the City Council voted unanimously to fine Dimenstein for violations ranging from exposed wiring to leaking automotive oil at a tune-up shop at his strip mall on Palm Avenue and Ninth Street.

Dimenstein told the council at the time that he had complied with as many of the city's requests as he could and that the tenants were responsible for many of the violations. City officials disagreed and fined him.

Dimenstein filed a lawsuit in July 2001. A judge ruled in March 2003 that the city correctly assessed the fines against him. Dimenstein appealed the decision, but in June 2003, the judge confirmed his previous ruling.

Mayor to give
annual address

CHULA VISTA –
Mayor Steve Padilla is scheduled to deliver his State of the City address at 6:30 p.m. Monday. He will speak at the Memorial Bowl, 373 Park Way.

New Food Bank
home christened

MIRA MESA –
The San Diego Food Bank christened its new home in Mira Mesa yesterday, National Hunger Awareness Day. The party drew about 150 clients of the bank, which annually provides social service agencies with more than 1 million pounds of food.

The bank's parent, the nonprofit Neighborhood House, bought the 79,000-square-foot warehouse last year for about $9 million. Major donations from Irwin and Joan Jacobs and others cut the mortgage to roughly $4 million.

"We're about half the way there," said Howard Carey, president and CEO of Neighborhood House. "We just need San Diego to step up to the dinner plate."